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[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 5/23/24

 

FRA issues reports on long-train safety, performance

 

The Federal Railroad Administration yesterday finalized three reports on the safety and performance of long trains.

 

The FRA recently sent the reports to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to inform an ongoing NAS study mandated by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 to look at the impact of trains longer than 7,500 feet.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Trains News Wire

 

Rail safety experts question conclusions of long-train derailment study

 

By Bill Stephens | May 31, 2024

 

The study focused on the number of cars rather than overall length of trains

 

Railroad safety experts are questioning the conclusions of a study released this week that found that a 200-car train is 24% more likely to derail than a 50-car train.

 

SNIP

 

Gary Wolf, a prominent derailment investigator, says the study lacks credibility because it does not factor out derailments that have nothing to do with train length, such as certain types of mechanical or track problems.

 

Conversely, Wolf says the study doesn’t delve into derailment risk from causes that can stem from train length, including air brake issues, poor train handling, slack action, and broken knuckles.

 

A definitive study, he says, would involve sorting through accident reports, finding causes related to train length, and then comparing 100-car trains to 200-car trains, for example. The derailment of a long train, he says, may have nothing to do with train length.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

BLET Weekly News Recap, 6/14/24 (Excerpt)

RAILROAD SAFETY:
Study finds that derailment risk increases as trains get longer

 

 

A recent academic study by researchers from Brigham Young University, Georgetown University, and Virginia Tech found that the risk of derailment increases with train length. The study, which analyzed FRA data from 2013-2022, found that a 200-car freight train is 24% more likely to derail than a 50-car train.

 

FRA Administrator Amit Bose discussed the safety and performance of long trains with BLET members during his presentation last week at the union’s Western Regional Meeting in Kansas City. The BLET has been advocating for action to address the dangers of excessive train length since the inception of Precision Scheduled Railroading. BLET National President Eddie Hall exposed the dangers of long trains in a 2023 interview with Washington Post.

 

Bose said that recent FRA studies found that air brake systems performed largely as expected when testing was performed in a controlled environment. However, the FRA identified some negative impacts on performance and recommended additional research to provide a better understanding of how long trains impact the durability of rolling stock mechanical components.

 

“As the length of freight trains increases, the need and demand for accurate, actionable data on long trains — some of which can stretch up to three miles — has never been greater,” Bose said. “FRA is leading the push for more transparency and data in this area.”

Photo courtesy of Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659